Various types of mobile electronic devices are generally known in the art. Cellular or wireless or mobile telephones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. are common examples of such mobile devices. It is customary for a mobile device to be equipped with a memory or other data storage element in which information, data and/or various contents are maintained. More specifically, typical mobile devices are often provisioned, for example, with a contact list, address book or the like in which names, telephone numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses and/or other information regarding various individuals or other contacts are stored.
On occasion, a user may desire to synchronize, transfer, upload or otherwise send content from one mobile device to another. For example, when acquiring a new mobile telephone, a user may desire to transfer the contact list from the old mobile telephone to the new one. In another example, a user may desire to synchronize the contact list on their mobile phone with the contact list on their PDA in order to keep the relevant information up to date. However, prior art solutions implemented to execute this task can be undesirable for one reason or another.
In one prior art example, a user may have to manually enter the information or data into the mobile device receiving the content. More specifically, the user would simply enter the new or updated data manually into the contact list of the mobile device, e.g., using the keypad or other input device equipped on the mobile device. However, this can be an overly time consuming and/or painstaking process that is prone to errors due to mistaken user input, particularly if there are many entries to be made. Moreover, due to size constrains, many mobile devices are often equipped with limited input devices, e.g., as compared to a standard or full keyboard. This can make manual data entry all the more undesirable.
In another conventional example, when a user purchases or otherwise acquires a new mobile telephone, the telephone seller or provider may provide a service whereby the contact list from the old mobile phone is transferred to the new mobile phone while the user waits. However, this contact list transfer service is often not offered when a user switches between different wireless service providers and may not be available for all types or models of mobile devices. Additionally, to avail one's self of this service, the user is generally required to have the old mobile phone with them when the new mobile phone is purchase or acquired, which may not always be the case, or they may be required to return to the point of purchase or other authorized service center at a later time with both mobile devices; this is especially true since the new device may have to be charged for several hours prior to being operative in order to begin the transfer of data. As can be appreciated, such a return trip may be inconvenient for the user. Moreover, this type of contact list transfer service is generally only available for transfers between specific mobile telephones. Accordingly, a user would not, e.g., be able to synchronize contact information between a PDA and a mobile phone using this service. Also, certain new mobile devices or phones may be completely incompatible for data transfer purposes with older devices the user may possess.
Generally, a straightforward transfer of contact list/address book data between mobile devices is hindered by the fact that different mobile device, e.g., from different manufactures, have different ways and/or formats for the internal representation and/or storage of the relevant data and there is generally no well adhered to standard for data storage and/or the representation of contact list data on mobile devices. Rather, manufactures typically try to devise the most efficient way to store the contact list data on the mobile devices, and data access generally follows the same strict constrains.
Additionally, different mobile devices may have different kinds of data stored in each entry or record of the contact list, e.g., depending on the mobile devices capabilities and/or the manufacture's desire. That is to say, one mobile device may support a rather rudimentary set of data in its contact list for each entry or record, e.g., a contact name and a contact number, while on the other hand another mobile device may support a more extensive set of data in its contact list for each entry or record, e.g., a contact name, multiple contact numbers, a speed dial designation, a group designation, a ring tone selection, an associated image designation, etc. Additionally, other mobile devices may further split the contact name into separate fields, such as a first name and a last name. Accordingly, as can be appreciated, different mobile devices commonly employ different internal data structures for their contact lists and/or different internal representations of the contact list data, e.g., which is often driven by the different capabilities of the mobile devices.
To address the aforementioned inconsistencies between different mobile devices, external “data converter” programs or applications, e.g., available on the Internet, have been developed. These data conversion programs attempt to solve the inconsistency problem by providing conversion routines that are operable for a particular pair of mobile devices (i.e., a specific source device and a specific destination device) and apply data transformations specially designed for the identified pair of mobile devices so that the specific destination device is able to recognize and/or accept the contact list data from the specific source device. The drawback here is that unless a user can locate the particular source device and destination device pair, the routine generally cannot be used. As a multitude of various new types and/or models of mobile devices are introduced and/or created by different manufactures on a fairly regular basis, relying on these types of data converters is a limited option. Moreover, as manufactures may consider their own newly developed internal data structures and/or data representations to be proprietary or secret, they may be unwilling or hesitant to release the specifications of the data structures and/or data representations to those that would develop appropriate data converters for the respective mobile device employing these data structures and/or data representations for their contact list data. Accordingly, the development and/or availability of a suitable contact list data converter may be prohibited, delayed or otherwise hindered. Additionally, using Internet based data converters represents a security risk to the extent that a user's contact list data may be exposed to unauthorized or otherwise unwanted tapping by the provider of the converter or while it is being transmitted over the Internet.
Accordingly, a new and improved method for synchronizing content between mobile devices is disclosed that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.